Stoneway
Roofing Supply grew over a number of years, gradually occupying seven
buildings in a row. The buildings were constructed at different times
in different styles and presented a disorganized appearance. With the
growth in do-it-yourself construction, Stoneway Roofing Supply wanted
to have a presentable appearance for the retail market. The design unifies
the exterior finish material among the buildings and uses strong horizontal
lines to tie the buildings together and create a consistent building height.
The circulation linking the administrative areas in the various buildings
has been relocated to the front wall to allow the creation of a regular
pattern of openings. The administrative areas have relights to introduce
borrowed natural light from the windows at the front of the building.
Stoneway’s traditional brown and tan color scheme was abandoned
in favor of a more eye-catching warm white with red accents.

Major
Considerations: Budgetary considerations were first and foremost. The
design needed to be inexpensive to construct, and require minimal maintenance.
The material palette includes cement plaster and metal. Doors are metal
or medium density overlay plywood to allow maximum paint life. The owner
wanted the option to up-grade the existing windows to double pane at a
later time, so the existing windows were trimmed with medium density overlay
plywood trim before the cement plaster was installed, to provide a low
maintenance trim while at the same time allowing the windows to be removed
without breaking the cement plaster.